Changes

==Obama and Islam==

==Obama and Islam==

Obama is likely to be Muslim because:

Some people believe Obama is a Muslim, for several reasons (along with reasonable explanations):

*Obama's background and education are [[Muslim]]

*Obama lived in Indonesia until he was 10 years old.  Indonesia is a traditionally Muslim country, which leads many to suspect that Obama was ingrained with the Muslim faith at a young age.  Obama himself stated in his book [i]The Audacity of Hope[/i] that he was not raised in religious household, and there is no strong evidence to contradict that claim.  From age 10 onwards he received a traditional American education at the prestigious Punahou School in Hawaii.

*Obama's middle name remains [[Muslim]], which most Christians would not retain<ref>See, e.g., [http://islam.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=islam&cdn=religion&tm=4&f=10&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.sudairy.com/arabic/masc.html] After Obama became politically ambitious, he declared himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as most do when they undergo a religious conversion.  For example, when Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "Paul"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]].  "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"[http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php] or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].[http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name]</ref>

*In spite of his Christian faith, Obama's middle name is still [[Muslim]].  However, changing one's name when changing religions is neither common nor necessary.

*Obama recently referred to his "Muslim faith"<ref>Obama declared, "John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zQK_EhDhZQ]</ref>

*Obama recently referred to his "Muslim faith".  In context, Obama did not state that he followed the Muslim faith, he was stating that John McCain has not attacked him based on the rumor that he has "Muslim faith".<ref>Obama declared, "John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith ... well what I'm saying is that he hasn't suggested that I'm a Muslim" at 1:17[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQqIpdBOg6I]</ref>

*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>   

*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>  Using the proper pronunciation for the name of a country is more likely a result of his high quality of education than a Muslim sympathy, however.

*Obama, in his autobiography "Dreams from My Father" (1995), descibes Muslim Malcolm X as his favorite black leader

*Obama, in his autobiography "Dreams from My Father" (1995), describes Muslim Malcolm X as his favorite black leader.  However, Malcolm X is highly regarded by all African Americans, not just Muslims, so the fact that Malcolm X happens to be a Muslim is not necessarily a sign of Muslim sympathies by Obama.

*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>

*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref> However, a basic logical principle is that "correlation is not causation".  Hence, the fact that he converted to Christianity after becoming politically ambitious (correlation) does not mean that he converted to Christianity to advance his political ambitions (causation).

 

*The odds of Obama being truthful in his claim that he converted to Christianity are less than 100 to 1 against it, as fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm</ref> However, if Obama's assertion that he has never been a practicing Muslim is true, this statistic is fairly irrelevant.

 

*Obama claimed to have visited 57 states while campaigning for president of the United States, which of course has only 50 states.<ref>  [http://www.mediaresearch.org/BozellColumns/newscolumn/2008/col20080528.asp Barack Potatoe Obama?]</ref>  He could never explain where the false number of 57 came from, but it has been observed that there are 57 [[Islamic]] states and Obama attended grade school in the predominantly Islamic country of Indonesia.<ref>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/05/12/obamas-freudian-slip-there-are-57-islamic-states/</ref> Once again, logic dictates that correlation is not causation, so there is no true logical links between these facts.

The odds of Obama being truthful in his claim that he converted to Christianity are less than 100 to 1 against it, as fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm</ref>

*Obama's Kenyan father was raised a Muslim, but became a "confirmed [[athiest]]" by the time his parents met.  Some consider this suspicious, as statistics show that fewer than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostic, or non-religious<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref>.  However, Obama's parents separated when he was 2 years old, so Obama's father's religious convictions likely had little to no impact on him regardless of where they lied. There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in Massachusetts from 1988 to 1991, because Obama did not become a Christian until he moved to Chicago.  Obama abruptly left his church in Chicago in 2008 when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join.

 

Obama claimed to have visited 57 states while campaigning for president of the United States, which of course has only 50 states.<ref>  [http://www.mediaresearch.org/BozellColumns/newscolumn/2008/col20080528.asp Barack Potatoe Obama?]</ref>  He could never explain where the false number of 57 came from, but it has been observed that there are 57 [[Islamic]] states and Obama was educated at an [[Islamic]] grade school while he lived in an [[Islamic]] country.<ref>http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/05/12/obamas-freudian-slip-there-are-57-islamic-states/</ref>

 

Obama downplays his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya|Kenyan]] [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref>  There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in Massachusetts from 1988 to 1991.  Finally, Obama abruptly left his church in Chicago in 2008 when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join.

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